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Topcase fell off?!!

bobfately

New member
Hi, all, I just found the BMWMMOA and joined today - bought a 650GT 6 weeks ago and love it (2700 miles so far, and that's just weekend riding - I use my Vespa 300GTS for weekday runabouts).

Anyway, I am writing because I purchased the bike with the BMW top case, which ended up falling off the back of the bike the 2nd day I had it. I mean the entire thing - case and rack, just broke off the back of the bike!

So I took it to Long Beach BMW where they saw that the bolts in the rear handles actually broke internally; they had to order the parts from Germany. I wasn't concerned about the extra couple of weeks delay, but last week I got an e-mail saying that while they now have the parts they cannot install them as BMW corporate told the dealers not to replace said topcases and rack - apparently they realize it's an engineering flaw. Geez, you'd think a company that's been making bikes for half a century would know how to engineer a rear rack!

I wonder if anyone else here has heard of this issue. I am still awaiting the letter I was told I would receive from BMW when they figured out how to fix this, but given the grand it cost and the fact I have been without it for 6 weeks I am getting a little annoyed. Has anyone heard of this happening to others?

TIA, and I look forward to learning from the group!
 
Not cool at all! Can you take a pic of what broke???

I have a Shad SH48 case and had one of the three screws (the ones that attach the bracket to the grab rails/center) come out. I replaced it and used LocTite blue on all three. I'd definitely be freaked if the internal sleeves or even the grab rail broke!
 
Bought my wife's c650gt at long beach in November, great dealer by the way, demo bike had top case. It looked kinda sketchy hanging way back their. Glad we opted not to get it, even with the BMW suggested weight limit the mount doesn't look sturdy enough. We went with luggage from saddleman that fits over pax seat
 
Er, that's not good. So apparently I should not put delicate or difficult to replace items in the top case, and should expect a recall? (An engineering flaw is a different story than a bad batch - this suggests that all of us who bought the top case are at risk at this point, but if I should remove my top case, someone needs to tell me that!)

I've got over 3000 miles on mine, most of it with the top case installed, and am leaving for L.A. in the morning from S.F. with my clothes in the top case!

Did you have a bunch of weight in it when this happened? I was shocked but have been pretty careful with mine when I read that it's only rated to carry something like 12 lbs, and the liner is probably 1/3 of that if you use one.
 
Hi, all, I just found the BMWMMOA and joined today - bought a 650GT 6 weeks ago and love it (2700 miles so far, and that's just weekend riding - I use my Vespa 300GTS for weekday runabouts).

Anyway, I am writing because I purchased the bike with the BMW top case, which ended up falling off the back of the bike the 2nd day I had it. I mean the entire thing - case and rack, just broke off the back of the bike!

So I took it to Long Beach BMW where they saw that the bolts in the rear handles actually broke internally; they had to order the parts from Germany. I wasn't concerned about the extra couple of weeks delay, but last week I got an e-mail saying that while they now have the parts they cannot install them as BMW corporate told the dealers not to replace said topcases and rack - apparently they realize it's an engineering flaw. Geez, you'd think a company that's been making bikes for half a century would know how to engineer a rear rack!

I wonder if anyone else here has heard of this issue. I am still awaiting the letter I was told I would receive from BMW when they figured out how to fix this, but given the grand it cost and the fact I have been without it for 6 weeks I am getting a little annoyed. Has anyone heard of this happening to others?

TIA, and I look forward to learning from the group!

This is a tough pill to swallow for sure. Not just BMW but all OEM's will sometimes discover engineering flaws. Doesn't matter how long they have been in business or what product it is. Mistakes can, do and will forever occur. Obviously they need to be as infrequent as humanly possible. I forget what year it was, maybe 2002 or 2003, Honda had a recall on GL1800 frames! A frame!! Can you imagine that? And, there may be nothing motorcycle-related that is more complicated than replacing a Gold Wing frame. It's just proof in the pudding that an engineering flaw can happen to anything whether we like it or not. So, you do need to accept the reality that engineering flaws do occur no matter how many attorney's are on Planet Earth. To put it bluntly It Sucks but you're never going to eliminate flaws.

Engineering flaws are typically not corrected overnight. After all the flaw was not anticipated. The OEM (or, more likely a 3rd-party vendor) now needs to go back to the drawing board and re-create the product although safer this time than the first go-around. And, this takes time. After all the revision will need to be tested as well. A top case represents a serious potential safety issue. You really don't need to have it before its been proven to be safe unless you're trying to off your wife or girlfriend. $1k for a case is a lot of money no doubt about it. But the retail value really has nothing to do with the flaw needing to be corrected. It is extremely unpleasant to be caught in one of these scenarios but they do happen. Presumably this is not an example of a corporation intentionally peddling junk. Sorry to say but your patience will probably be tried. You just need to hang in there for an unknown period of time. Or, if you feel it is justifiable ask for a refund. Possibly install a GIVI case.

BMW top case quality is excellent, probably beyond excellent. A hiccup has occurred here and they'll get it corrected. Hang in there the best you can. Once you have a top case again you'll be a happy camper.
 
Er, that's not good. So apparently I should not put delicate or difficult to replace items in the top case, and should expect a recall? (An engineering flaw is a different story than a bad batch - this suggests that all of us who bought the top case are at risk at this point, but if I should remove my top case, someone needs to tell me that!)

I've got over 3000 miles on mine, most of it with the top case installed, and am leaving for L.A. in the morning from S.F. with my clothes in the top case!

Did you have a bunch of weight in it when this happened? I was shocked but have been pretty careful with mine when I read that it's only rated to carry something like 12 lbs, and the liner is probably 1/3 of that if you use one.

Er, that's not good. So apparently I should not put delicate or difficult to replace items in the top case, and should expect a recall? (An engineering flaw is a different story than a bad batch - this suggests that all of us who bought the top case are at risk at this point, but if I should remove my top case, someone needs to tell me that!)

I've got over 3000 miles on mine, most of it with the top case installed, and am leaving for L.A. in the morning from S.F. with my clothes in the top case!

Did you have a bunch of weight in it when this happened? I was shocked but have been pretty careful with mine when I read that it's only rated to carry something like 12 lbs, and the liner is probably 1/3 of that if you use one.

Luckily, the case was empty when it fell away from the bike - though I did have my helmet in it on the way up from Long Beach to the Valley where I live, so I guess it could have been worse (plus on the 405 no doubt the case would have smashed into a following car's windshield - it would not have been pretty). I agree LB BMW is a great dealer - Robyn has been nothing but supportive. And I agree it seem obvious that the very short arms designed to hold the rack that extended so far back led to the problem - probably normal vibration of the case was leveraged up to break the bolts or something. I have attached a photo to show where the entire rear rack was essentially torn away, bolts and all.
 

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What are they hanging back there a 21 litre box? I opted not.
Agreed it appears that it "hangs off" the back end which would increase the lever effect on those bolts but still man . . . glad no one was hurt.
I have strapped gear to the rack but no box, passengers use the rack for grips. Somewhat comforting to see the rack itself did not fail.
Hope all works out well.

Now I imagine the finger pointing will begin.
"It's the design" (poor)
"It's the install" (over torqued)
 
ImageUploadedByTapatalk HD1372962076.317310.jpg

I got this from BMW Motorcycle discussion group on Google. There is indeed a recall on top-case.

Paul Mann
 
Hope this image is clearer than the one in my previous post.


Paul Mann
 

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What good is that when the date on the paper is June 12 2013 his date has come and gone.
A recall is a recall and should have no date to expire

Jeff, this is a BMW NA bulletin directed at Parts and Accessory Managers at a BMW dealership, not BMW end users. Dealers need to return applicable inventory by that date if they wish to receive credit. If you note down towards the bottom the memo is for BMW Parts and Accessory Managers and is not directed at the end user.

Apparently Paul received a copy of an internal memo.
 
Jeff, this is a BMW NA bulletin directed at Parts and Accessory Managers at a BMW dealership, not BMW end users. Dealers need to return applicable inventory by that date if they wish to receive credit. If you note down towards the bottom the memo is for BMW Parts and Accessory Managers and is not directed at the end user.

Apparently Paul received a copy of an internal memo.

Funny I just got off the phone with the dealer here and he said the same thing that it was an internal bmw memo.
When were we as the consumer going to find this out, when the girlfriend was laying on the highway with the top box she was leaning on. I am glad we have the Internet.
The dealer has informed me that the rack is and has now been on back order since May 29 of this year and when will they get them in.

From looking at the picture in the previous post, if it is the bolts that failed why could they not get bolts with a different sheer rating or tensile strength. I guess that would be to easy.
 
Last edited:
Hi, all, I just found the BMWMMOA and joined today - bought a 650GT 6 weeks ago and love it (2700 miles so far, and that's just weekend riding - I use my Vespa 300GTS for weekday runabouts).

Anyway, I am writing because I purchased the bike with the BMW top case, which ended up falling off the back of the bike the 2nd day I had it. I mean the entire thing - case and rack, just broke off the back of the bike!

So I took it to Long Beach BMW where they saw that the bolts in the rear handles actually broke internally; they had to order the parts from Germany. I wasn't concerned about the extra couple of weeks delay, but last week I got an e-mail saying that while they now have the parts they cannot install them as BMW corporate told the dealers not to replace said topcases and rack - apparently they realize it's an engineering flaw. Geez, you'd think a company that's been making bikes for half a century would know how to engineer a rear rack!

I wonder if anyone else here has heard of this issue. I am still awaiting the letter I was told I would receive from BMW when they figured out how to fix this, but given the grand it cost and the fact I have been without it for 6 weeks I am getting a little annoyed. Has anyone heard of this happening to others?

TIA, and I look forward to learning from the group!

Do you know why the case fell off. Did the rear bolts breakas well or just got loose?

When I ride, I look the scooter over before I get on it.

One morning, I found the case had gotten loose. Looking closer, the two nuts on the rear bolts that held the rack had fallen off and the other two front bolts were loose.

I had assembled the rack myself. This happened about a month later. I use the scooter to go to work, two or three times a week.

I got bolts of the same length and nuts at the hardware store and replaced everything. I used lock washers. I have checked that the bolts have remained tight a couple of time.

I do not use a torque wrench for small bolts. I would say they were pretty tight, but the bolts were not stretched.
 
Funny I just got off the phone with the dealer here and he said the same thing that it was an internal bmw memo.
When were we as the consumer going to find this out, when the girlfriend was laying on the highway with the top box she was leaning on. I am glad we have the Internet.
The dealer has informed me that the rack is and has now been on back order since May 29 of this year and when will they get them in.

From looking at the picture in the previous post, if it is the bolts that failed why could they not get bolts with a different sheer rating or tensile strength. I guess that would be to easy.

Better yet, how would you as a consumer find out to begin with? This is true of most anything made as most purchases do not contain serialized inventory and many times we don't have names or telephone numbers on the invoice. Although technically possible it would be difficult to track everything sold in the world and who bought it. Do you have suggestions?
 
Better yet, how would you as a consumer find out to begin with? This is true of most anything made as most purchases do not contain serialized inventory and many times we don't have names or telephone numbers on the invoice. Although technically possible it would be difficult to track everything sold in the world and who bought it. Do you have suggestions?


I just got off the phone again with one of my local dealers and he was telling me he just got the memo on Friday. The way he originally found out was he had a scooter in for service earlier in the week and it came up on the computer system. This is how all the other scooter riders will know is if they take the scooter in for service it would be corrected. (the key word is IF)

What he also told me is that what is happening is 2 of the 4 bolts are coming loose and the other 2 can't hold the weight. He also told me that if I am going out to the scooter to lift the back end of the rack and give a shake this would tell me if I am in trouble or good shape. He is also going to set up an appointment for me to come in and check it himself. The fix from BMW is still not known to him yet, it may be new bolts and or some lock tight on the bolts we will know soon (maybe)
 
Do you know why the case fell off. Did the rear bolts breakas well or just got loose?

When I ride, I look the scooter over before I get on it.

One morning, I found the case had gotten loose. Looking closer, the two nuts on the rear bolts that held the rack had fallen off and the other two front bolts were loose.

I had assembled the rack myself. This happened about a month later. I use the scooter to go to work, two or three times a week.

I got bolts of the same length and nuts at the hardware store and replaced everything. I used lock washers. I have checked that the bolts have remained tight a couple of time.

I do not use a torque wrench for small bolts. I would say they were pretty tight, but the bolts were not stretched.

I can appreciate the notion of checking your bike before heading out, but note what I wrote - this happened when I had possession for 1 day. That is, I picked it up an Saturday, rode it a bit, and the following morning while heading up to a meeting the case fell away. I would guess that even you would not double check the tightness of bolts (or even tire pressure) the day after you picked up the new bike from the dealer!
 
Better yet, how would you as a consumer find out to begin with? This is true of most anything made as most purchases do not contain serialized inventory and many times we don't have names or telephone numbers on the invoice. Although technically possible it would be difficult to track everything sold in the world and who bought it. Do you have suggestions?

And just my luck that the memo is dated merely "May 2013" but I picked up my 650 on May 4; it could well be that the dealer wasn't even aware at that point.
 
I just got off the phone again with one of my local dealers and he was telling me he just got the memo on Friday. The way he originally found out was he had a scooter in for service earlier in the week and it came up on the computer system. This is how all the other scooter riders will know is if they take the scooter in for service it would be corrected. (the key word is IF)

What he also told me is that what is happening is 2 of the 4 bolts are coming loose and the other 2 can't hold the weight. He also told me that if I am going out to the scooter to lift the back end of the rack and give a shake this would tell me if I am in trouble or good shape. He is also going to set up an appointment for me to come in and check it himself. The fix from BMW is still not known to him yet, it may be new bolts and or some lock tight on the bolts we will know soon (maybe)

I've said this many times before and here's what you need to do: Supply the last 7 characters of the VIN and the dealer can do a look-up for your particular unit as well as recommended services. If self-maintainers do not take this step they may not become aware of the trunk issue as stated in the above post. This might be a worthwhile thing to do every quarter for example or even monthly if you want to take it that far. It only takes the dealer maybe 30 to 40 seconds so it's no big deal.

If the bolts that are loosening up are held in place with nuts you could also substitute nylock nuts as well possibly. Just stay involved in the process to make sure your unit stays safe as per BMW.
 
And just my luck that the memo is dated merely "May 2013" but I picked up my 650 on May 4; it could well be that the dealer wasn't even aware at that point.

This is an interesting point on the dating. These types of bulletins will indicate a month but not the exact date for some reason. It always struck me as odd that NA wasn't willing to give it a specific date and I have always wondered if it was to possibly keep them out of a legal issue.

As to your particular pick-up date. This is sad to state but many dealers do not run the VIN's for recalls as a component of the repair order process. Please note this does NOT mean your particular dealer didn't do this. This memo may not have existed on your purchase date but no one in the store or the customer will know that for fact given the poor dating procedure. It is dealer responsibility to review for paperwork of this nature on a daily business. Our service department opened for business at 8:30am and my normal arrival time would be approximately 6:30am to 7:00am. I personally used an early morning checklist to review not only things of this nature but all of our paperwork needs in general. When memo's of this nature were released I would print a copy for everyone involved in service as well as sales and parts. A variety of other steps were taken as well, too detailed to get into here, but suffice it to say if we ended up with a unit of this nature coming in the door as the 1st customer of the day at 8:30am our entire service department was already aware of the issue and there was what is known as a "Standard Job" already set-up in the computer with labor times and parts requirements and appropriate warnings if it was recall-related. BMW posts these bulletins overnight (Continental USA time) therefore we were ready to go from the moment we opened the doors on the bulletin release date.

One of the very real problems here is the need to do all of this preparation manually. The motorcycle Dealer Management Software vendors and the OEM's have nothing to automate this process and it requires a tremendous amount of discipline on the dealer end to pull it off. I can't tell you how many units we would see with outstanding bulletins that had not been handled for the customer by other dealers these people had already visited. With the generation of 4,000 repair orders a year I imagine we saw this happen hundreds of times a year. It's a very real problem and that is why I discuss having the last 7 characters of your VIN checked out. We would even see brand new recall units appearing in our store sold at other dealers and then have to explain to the customer why they can't have their bike back if they decide to continue with the repair order being written up. For those that don't know recalls are federally regulated and it is against the law to sell AND release a unit that has an outstanding recall. Yes, the bike is now in our store all of a sudden. An example of a dealer not keeping up with the bulletins.

Long post about a dealers internal procedures, or lack thereof, but exceptionally safety-related if you would prefer to ride your bike in one piece.

Long story short - get your VIN checked out on a regular basis.
 
Much appreciated on keeping us informed on the inside workings of Dealer's Service department. Obviously customers are not well informed or educated and we fail to realize our responsibilities as a customer. Works both ways to keep bikes and bikers happy. Thanks
 
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